TNboy: Intro - Paxil 20mg taper/WD

[TNboy]

Hello all,

 

Fairly new to the site, but I figured I’d start a post in the hopes that my journey might be useful to someone in similar circumstances. 
 

I’ve been on Paxil 20 mg for 19 years or so until about a year ago, when I dropped to 12.5 CR. The drop didn’t cause many problems - a few brain zaps, but nothing I couldn’t manage. After reading some of the horror stories, I may be a little different than many people on the site in that I felt more or less ok at 12.5 mg. I’m in really good shape, my diet is very good, I get enough rest... all things considered, my quality of life should really be pretty good. Problem was, it wasn’t. I didn’t enjoy much of anything, and for the most part I felt numb and sedated, along with a few other mild side effects. 
 

So, about a month ago I decided it was time to get off the meds. Like a dummy I started to take my doctor’s advice to “take half a pill for 2 weeks then stop”. That worked great for about 10 days. I had a ton of energy, my head felt clearer than it had in years, I had these periods of deeper calm than I could ever remember, hey, this is great! I decided at that point, I feel so good at 6.25 CR that I may as well get the 10 mg (non extended release) pills and take half, since my insurance covers those. So, to sum up, I took 6.25 CR for 10 days, then 5 mg for 17 days. It was around 2 weeks after my initial drop that I knew this wasn’t going to go how I had hoped it would. That’s what ultimately landed me on this site, which has been a fantastic source of information. Vets of the site would identify my honeymoon period and that my body is way too dependent on the med to cut 50%+ in one go. 
 

I understand everyone responds differently both to the med and withdrawing from the med, and for me it’s the dizziness/vertigo. It started out pretty moderate and I figured I would just tough it out for a few days, maybe a week or two, and things would level out. Yeah, not so much. It got worse, to the point that it was constant and I went through my day a little concerned that I was going to pass out. There are a few other WD effects, like brain fog, but the dizziness was so pervasive, it got to the point of disrupting my life. 
 

So, this morning I decided being a tough guy wasn’t doing anyone any good and I need to be a little kinder to my body, so I decided to updose to 10 mg/day. I understand it will take several days for that to fully manifest, but for what it’s worth I felt some relief within a few hours. How much of that is placebo is anyone’s guess, but when you need relief like I did, I didn’t really care whether it was placebo or not...

 

Is 10mg the right #? Who knows. It’s a shot in the dark, like much of this process seems to be. Seemed like a reasonable place to sort of hit the reset button, since I was stable at 12.5 and 10 doesn’t require any cutting/grinding (and is covered by insurance). We’ll see how this goes, but I guess my plan for now is to stabilize at 10 (and hopefully have some semblance of a life again), then start a slow taper - I’m liking the idea of brassmonkey’s slide method. 
 

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading my novel 😀. The next entries will be much shorter I’m sure. 

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, TNboy.

 

I'm glad the reinstatement seems to be working.  It take a little more than a week for the new dose to get to full state in your bloodstream.  It's a good idea to keep daily notes on paper to track how your reinstatement is going.  The symptoms may not go away entirely, but the reinstatement should bring them down to a tolerable level or better.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. -- at least the first page of the topic

 

The withdrawal symptoms you describe are typical.  So that you have a better understanding of what you're experiencing, here is some information on withdrawal and healing.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF)

 

When we take medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

Once you're stabilized, which should take several months, you'll be ready to taper.  The Brassmonkey slide taper works very well and is the method I've used for my Lexapro taper.  It's slightly slower than the standard 10% of current dose every four weeks method but it's gentler.

Brassmonkey, one of our moderators, devised this method and used it to taper off 40mg of Paxil.

 

The Brassmonkey Slide Method of Micro-tapering

 

The following link is specifically about tapering Paxil and contains information about how to get the smaller non-standard doses you'll need for your taper.

 

Tips for tapering off Paxil (paroxetine)

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

 Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

[Tamamamma]

Hi TNboy.  I hope your reinstatement helps you to feel better soon.  Don’t be too discouraged if it takes a while, and it may be a “windows and waves” pattern where you have good days followed by bad ones...back and forth for a bit while your body adjusts.  I’m a person that does not like the unknown (prob like most of us here), and the process is a little like finding your way out of an escape room in the dark.  Listen to your body and keep up the self care.  Thank you for your visit to my profile.  It really is nice to not feel alone in this.

[Cocopuffz17]

Hello TNboy, welcome to the site. I would highly recommend stabilizing and a slow taper. It was too late for me and I got my ass whooped for a solid 7-9 months post zero. I am almost a year off of 20 mg of Paxil after 11 years on. I still have some challenges, but it is WAY better than 3-4 months ago. Take care. 
 

Everyday that passes is one day closer to being healed! 

[TNboy]

Hey Coco, at what point did you jump off, and how long had you been there? What symptoms were/are you having? 

[Cocopuffz17]

8 hours ago, TNboy said:

Hey Coco, at what point did you jump off, and how long had you been there? What symptoms were/are you having? 

 

Hey, I was on 20 mg for 11 years. I did a 3 month taper suggested by my psychiatrist(WAY TOO FAST). I went 25% of the original dose every month.....15 mg(1 month hold), 10 mg(1 month hold), 5 mg(2 week hold) and here is where I panicked abit said I can't do the full 5 mg drop as the WD was so hard at this point... so I dropped to 2.5 mg for the last 2 weeks. Then I jumped to 0. I felt good for abit and then all hell broke loose. I got pretty much every symptom you could have and they rotated for at least 7-8 months.

• Anxiety
• Depression and mood swings
• Dizziness and balance problems, possibly vertigo
• Electric shock sensations
• Fatigue
• Flu-like symptoms
• Headache
• Loss of coordination
• Muscle spasms
• Nausea
• Nightmares
• Tremors
• Trouble sleeping
• Vomiting

I noticed a direct relation to poor nutrition and symptoms spiking. The worst by far for me was fatigue. I would be completely exhausted and not be able to sleep less then 15 hrs a day. Vertigo is something else as well.... especially since I've never had balance issues ever in my life. 

 

I am doing WAY better now... I have focused on being more disciplined with my nutrition. I get seldom headaches and tinnitus now( I had them for over 10 months straight everyday in varying degrees during the brunt of WDs)

Brain fog is still a pain in the butt, but much more manageable. 

Funny thing to me is .... the "reason" I went on this medication was for anxiety and that is almost 100% gone, absolutely no comparison to what it was almost 12 years ago. I know this is from lifestyle changes with nutrition. 

 

Ask away if you have anymore questions!

 

Everyday that passes is one day closer to being healed!